MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

With defiant fury Cristina Fernandez launched the campaign for October election

As anticipated by serious political analysts the president did not admit defeat and doubled the stakes

In an extremely aggressive speech in the aftermath of primaries defeat, Argentine president Cristina Fernandez blasted the media for misinterpreting electoral results, charged against the Mayor of Tigre Sergio Massa who was the big winner on Sunday, pressed for full commitment from her allies and promised more of the same in support of the ‘socially inclusive model’.

Argentina’ serious political analysts had anticipated that Cristina Fernandez faithful to her record in defeat would react by doubling the stakes and that is exactly what she did on Wednesday during an official ceremony turned into a political rally and launching pad for the coming October mid term elections.

During the ceremony at the Tecnopolis science exhibition Cristina Fernandez showed up surrounded with allied governors, lawmakers and cabinet members and announced a new program for the Agriculture ministry which distributed minibuses to schools across Argentina, symbolically handed by the governors and other allies attending.    

”Some talk about the future, I tell them the future is here, with all these youngsters. If this isn’t the future, where is it? she said at the beginning of the heated speech. And in contrast with the opposition blasted, “They are the past, they are not new, they are well and badly remembered by everybody”

Then pointing her guns to Massa she underlined, “we are not obsessed or stupid, we will discuss yes, but with the big-league players, not with those sitting on the substitute bench. I want to talk with the coaches, industry and bank leaders, and organized workers. This is not a match for substitutes”.

In reference to the October mid term elections Cristina Fernandez said that “those who want to go for all, are them (the opposition and foreign interests). I saw it clearly when the presidential election in 2011, in a sweep with a run of the banks they snatched 5 billion dollars”.

“We all saw it, and it was no good for the country. That is why we have to be strong and show much temperance because those who are really disputing power are not names in the ballot, they are outside. Each time in Wall Street they are happy and celebrate, as now, it was an anticipation of bad times for us”, said the president.

Her fire was meant to the head of Argentina’s banks association, the former chief of the Industrial Union, former president of the Central bank, at one time allies or officials of her administration but who have now crossed lines and from the back benches support what looks to be the new leadership, that of Mayor Massa the big winner in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina’s main electoral district and which decides any presidential election.  

Cristina Fernandez then picked on the media by celebrating the fact that Kirchnerism had won in Antarctica and in an indigenous Qom community in the north of the country.

“The first results always come from Antarctica, but this time it was our victory and not a word; the same in the Qom community, because we won”, complained Cristina Fernandez adding she had to find out reading the results.

“In San Juan the media said we lost because we were four points down, in Buenos Aires City the ruling PRO was down eight points and not a word about it, on the contrary there was ample coverage of them celebrating with balloons and dancing”.
“If this is not bias media, then you tell me!”

However later in a release the chief of the Qom community that has been under strong pressure including killings and beatings to give up their ancestral land, indicated that the results can be explained because “we were sent to vote in another district”.

Likewise Eduardo Buzzi, head of one of the main farmers’ organization claimed that the Argentine president had left farmers and the camp out of the promised round of talks with different sectors “not because she forgot, but out of revenge because we defeated her back in the 2009 conflict”.

Addressing the business community Cristina Fernandez warned that ‘nobody’ should dare ask her to play with the exchange rate because that means ‘washing down’ salaries and the same goes for those who want inflation targets, because that means ‘caps on salaries’.

Finally she called on all Kirchnerite militants to visit ‘home by home’ to show and explain the model and convince the electorate ‘to support us next October 27’, because where there are mistakes we are willing to discuss but with the real owners of the game, not their substitutes”.

“To all those attending today and those who couldn’t come, I’m telling you we are going to make it to the 27 October because we are convinced of our project and nobody can stop this country. This is sustained with courage, militancy and perseverance. We are what we are are. We don’t cheat, I’m not making any promises for October, I know how that works; we have facts and figures to show”.

And remember “I’m nobody’s substitute, I’m the president of 40 million Argentines, I’m prepared to discuss with industry, the banks, fellow friends of the unions, with the true and real economic players. This is not match for substitutes, it’s a match for the main players of interests and lobbies”.

During the rally the president had the flashes on her particularly when shaking hands with the select party of officials and militants attending.  Later Buenos Aires province Governor Daniel Scioli, Juan Manuel Urtubey (Salta), Sergio Urribarri (Entre Ríos), Lucía Corpacci (Catamarca), Gerardo Zamora (Santiago del Estero), Sergio Uñak (San Juan Vice Governor), Gildo Insfrán (Formosa), José Alperovich (Tucumán) and Martín Buzzi (Chubut) attended the rally, and her Buenos Aires province candidate, Lomas de Zamora Mayor Martín Insaurralde appeared onstage standing beside Cristina Fernandez.